The NHL and its players' union agreed to the framework of a new collective bargaining agreement early Sunday morning that is expected to be ratified by both owners and players this week. The deal will salvage either a 48-game or 50-game schedule after a nearly four month lockout. The pact is expected to last 10 years and split revenues 50-50 between owners and players, similar to the CBAs in the NFL and NBA. The players are set to return to the ice, but will NHL fans come back as well?

The 2004-05 NHL lockout that wiped out an entire season did not keep fans away when hockey returned in October 2005. In fact, it was the exact opposite in many cases. Attendance increased for the majority of teams with nine teams experiencing a bump of at least 5% compared to the 2003-04 season. The Pittsburgh Penguins led the way with a 33% gain, as recent top draft picks Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin made their Pens' debut. Attendance for the Carolina Hurricanes rose 26% thanks to the team's Southeast Division crown and first Stanley Cup title.

Attendance fell for eight teams when hockey returned in 2005, but only four of those declines were more than 5%. The St. Louis Blues had the biggest drop at 23%, as they posted a league-worst 57 points that season. Fans gave the NHL a pass for its '04-05 lockout, but will they do it again in 2013? The NHL is counting on it because no league is more dependent on its core fan base than hockey.

NHL teams derived 47% of their revenues last season from arena revenues controlled by the fan. These include gate receipts, concessions and parking. The other half of revenues hail from media contracts, luxury suites, sponsors and non-hockey events. Of the major U.S. sports, baseball is the next highest at 46%, but that figure is set to drop with the explosion of local media deals in the sport like the impending Los Angeles Dodgers deal worth more than $6 billion. The corresponding percentages in the NBA and NFL are 34% and 24% respectively. The NHL simply does not have the media rights fee millions (or billions) the other sports possess.

The NHL's main U.S. broadcast partner, NBC Sports, has more riding on the NHL's return than just about any other organization. The Comcast subsidiary re-branded Versus as the NBC Sports Network last year. The centerpiece of the network is the NHL, which inked a 10-year deal with NBC Sports in 2011 worth $2 billion for media rights. NBCSN misses hockey. NHL telecasts averaged 600,000 viewers last season on NBCSN, while in December one of the network's top-rated shows was Elk Fever with 147,00 viewers, according to Adweek.

The NHL was on a roll before the lockout with revenues reaching a record $3.4 billion last season and franchise values hitting an all-time high of $282 million on average. Will it continue? An NBC Sports poll with 50,000 responses asked fans "Will you come back to the NHL." The results: 54% answered yes and 12% said they never followed the sport, while 12% are taking a wait-and-see approach and 18% responded no. The NHL desperately needs to get those 30% of people back on board to keep the momentum going.